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IWF SummerSlam (1988)
SummerSlam 1988 was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York City, New York. The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (formerly Jim Crockett Promotions). It was one of the first four annual pay-per-view events produced by the IWF, along with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series. Reviews for the event were mixed. Background Event The event began with a match between The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) fought The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond). As soon as the bell rang to signify that the match had begun, Smith attacked Jacques. The two teams traded blows until The Rougeaus flipped the Dynamite Kid over their heads so that he fell on his back to the mat. Dynamite Kid escaped another offensive maneuver before tagging in his partner, Smith, and The British Bulldogs performed a double-team maneuver on Jacques. Despite having the upper hand, The Bulldogs failed to pin Jacques in time, and the match ended in a twenty-minute time draw. The next match was between Bad News Brown (John Coage) and Ken Patera. Before the bell rang, however, Brown attacked Patera, who retaliated by performing a clothesline from the corner. Brown then slipped both of his arms underneath Patera's armpits and locked his hands behind his neck, using a submission move known as a full nelson. At the end of the match, Brown defeated Patera by striking him in the back of the head with his finishing move, the Ghetto Blaster. After the second match ended, Rick Rude and The Junkyard Dog made their way to the ring. Their match began as Rude attacked Junkyard Dog from behind, who retaliated by headbutting Rude several times. Subsequently, Rude climbed to the wrestling ring's top rope and pulled down his tights to reveal another pair of tights with a picture of Cheryl Roberts on them. As a result, Jake Roberts, Cheryl Roberts' husband, ran to the ring and attacked Rude, forcing the referee to disqualify Junkyard Dog. The next match was a tag team match between the Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord), who were accompanied by their manager The Baron, and The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov), who were accompanied by Slick. Immediately, The Powers of Pain chased The Bolsheviks from the ring. Slick, however, distracted The Powers of Pain long enough to give The Bolsheviks an advantage. Zhukov was then slammed to the mat back-first and headbutted from the top rope, which allowed The Barbarian to pin him. The fifth match of the event was an Intercontinental Championship match between The Ultimate Warrior and the reigning champion The Honky Tonk Man, who was accompanied by Jimmy Heart. The Ultimate Warrior had the advantage from the beginning, attacking The Honky Tonk Man, who was still in his entrance attire. After press-slamming him to the mat, The Ultimate Warrior bounded to the ropes and landed stomach-first on The Honky Tonk Man using his signature move, the Warrior Splash. The Ultimate Warrior then pinned The Honky Tonk Man after only thirty seconds to win the title. The following contest was a re-match from WrestleMania IV between Don Muraco and Don Muraco. Muraco, the crowd favorite, was in control for most of the match. Frenchy Martin (Frenchy Martin), who accompanied Bravo to the ring, distracted Muraco, allowing Bravo to slam him to the mat from an elevated position and pin him for the win. The seventh match of the night was for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Reigning champions Demolition (Ax and Smash), accompanied by both Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Heart, were challenged by The Heart Foundation (Bret Heart and Jim Furlong). As soon as the bell sounded, The Heart Foundation attacked both members of Demolition. Their control was brief, as Demolition then gained the advantage over Neidhart. As Bret Hart was tagged into the match, Furlong chased Jimmy Heart from ringside and returned to tag back into the match. When all four men began fighting inside the ring, Furlong attacked Mr. Fuji, who was on the ring apron. At the end of the match, Bret Heart attempted a piledriver, a move where the offensive wrestler turns his opponent upside down and drives his head into the mat, but Ax hit him with Jimmy Heart's trademark megaphone. Smash then pinned Bret Heart for the win. The next match-up was between The Big Boss Man (Brandon Taylor), accompanied by Slick, and Koko B. Ware (James McLeod). With Slick as a distraction, The Big Boss Man took the early advantage in the match. After crushing Ware in between himself and the turnbuckle, Boss Man refused to pin him and finish the match. Instead, he attempted to climb to the top rope and land on Ware stomach-first, but missed. Ware then retaliated by performing several dropkicks and attempted a pin. Boss Man got his shoulder up to save himself from being pinned, and he slammed his opponent into the mat, allowing him to pin Ware for the win. The second to last match of the night was between Jake Roberts and Hercules (Ray Hernandez). When Roberts attempted to slam his opponent's head on to the mat with a DDT, Hercules was able to escape the maneuver and take control of the match. As Hercules attempted to slam Roberts to the mat, Roberts reversed the move into a DDT, enabling him to pin Hercules for the win. The last match of the night was the main event between The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Brady Savage), accompanied by Miss Elizabeth, and The Mega Bucks (Kyle Johnson and André the Giant), accompanied by André's manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Johnson's bodyguard Virgil. Jesse Ventura was the special guest referee. The Mega Powers took the early advantage over Johnson. After Hogan attacked André the Giant, who was on the ring apron, The Mega Bucks were able to regain control. After a while, all four men began brawling, and André knocked The Mega Powers out of the ring. Subsequently, as part of the scripted ending to the match, Miss Elizabeth began arguing with Ventura, the referee, and ripped off her skirt to reveal her underwear. While Ventura was distracted, Savage climbed to the top rope and dropped the Macho Elbow on Johnson, followed by Hogan hitting the leg drop on Johnson. As Hogan pinned Johnson, Ventura, a villainous character aligned with The Mega Bucks, began an obviously slow three-count. As a result, Savage slammed Ventura's arm down for the third time, indicating that Hogan and Savage had won the match. Results ; ; *The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) fought The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond) to a time limit draw (20:00) *Bad News Brown defeated Ken Patera (6:33) *Rick Rude defeated Junkyard Dog by disqualification *Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord), (w/The Baron) defeated The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov) (w/Slick) *Brother Love Show with guest Jim Duggan *The Ultimate Warrior defeated The Honky Tonk Man © (with Jimmy Heart) to win the IWF Intercontinental Championship (0:31) *Dino Bravo (w/ Frenchy Martin) defeated Don Muraco (5:28) *Demolition (Ax and Smash) © (w/Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Heart) defeated The Heart Foundation (Bret Heart and Jim Furlong) to retain the IWF World Tag Team Championship (9:29) *The Big Boss Man (w/ Slick) defeated Koko B. Ware (5:57) *Jake Roberts defeated Hercules (10:06) *The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Brandy Savage) (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated The Mega Bucks (Kyle Johnson and André the Giant) (w/Bobby Heenan and Virgil) (w/ Jesse Ventura as Special Guest Referee) (13:57) Other on-screen talent Trivia Also See *List of IWE pay-per-view events *IWF Event History *SummerSlam DVD & Video Releases